Carlos Acosta tees up in Antarctica

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“Neither one of them is work.  I love them both,” said Acosta, owner of Madera Construction.  “I haven’t worked for 20-something years, because I went from flying to doing construction.”

The Cessna 310 he flies now is no match for the C5 cargo planes (AKA flying warehouses) he flew while in the U.S. Air Force, or for the DC 8s and DC 10s he flew all over the world, for a company that contracted with the U.S. State Department.

“We used to fly support missions for the National Science Foundation. In October, when it’s summertime at the bottom of the world, is when we would fly out of New Zealand down to the Antarctica and re-supply them.

“I would take my golf clubs with me, and orange golf balls, and play out there on the ice.  The ice had to be a certain thickness for us to land on.  It was a blast.”

Acosta, an avid golfer, would play the game at every stop he made.  “You name the country and I could probably recommend you a golf course and a restaurant,” he said.

After Acosta retired from his career as a commercial pilot, he started buying small houses and fixing them up.  But it was Hurricane Katrina that prompted the change from mostly residential to commercial finish out.

“I got a call from someone from Lake Charles, LA, and they said, ‘Hey we need some roofers out here, can you help us out?’  I told them no, but a friend of a friend called me and said, ‘Look this guy really needs help.’ I went down there to do one roof, and the pay was very, very good and it was really worth going.”

When Acosta finished the project, he told the doctor he was working for that he was heading back to San Antonio.  The doctor said, “No, no, I need someone really reliable.  You did everything you said you were going to do, when you said you were going to do it, and on schedule.  I own 15 different medical buildings in this town.  I am going to let you repair all of them for me.”

  “That’s what started it – word of mouth.  That’s how I got into the commercial side of the business and I had to learn real quick how all that stuff works.  I streamed it down to where I was just doing metal buildings, metal studs, drywall and painting, which is basically my specialty now. 

“I met some people at the San Antonio Golf Association and got the contract to remodel the San Antonio City Golf Course clubhouses.  I have remodeled just about every single one of their clubhouses.”

Madera Construction is named after the town in Mexico where Acosta’s father-in-law, Rafael Gamez, was born.
Acosta credits his wife, Silvia, with his life successes.

“She has been the backbone and the secret behind my success,” he said.  “She gives me 110 percent in everything I do.  We have been married 23 years and I have known her for 25, and I fell in love with her the first day I met her.  The Acostas have two sons, Marco and Carlos.   –kf